Tamper-evident box seals for product- and brand protection against counterfeiting

Ensuring product authenticity is made harder than ever by the constant flow of goods and services across national borders, the frequent use of outsourcing and the heavy reliance on complex supply chains. The presence of faked, forged and pirated goods is growing at an alarming rate and poses a serious threat across every economic level, from high-end luxury goods to everyday household items.

The cost of counterfeit and pirated goods increases constantly, reaching the staggering amount of over half a trillion dollars. The counterfeiting of goods, however, means so much more than lost revenue. Such tainted products are a serious threat to public health and safety. Brand protection means preserving the trust of the end-customers, making sure that by using a certain brand the consumers receive the same quality every time and to prevent unpleasant or in the case of counterfeit medicines, even tragic consequences from ever occurring. Defeating the counterfeiters demands a multilevel approach, an element of which is secure packaging.

ELTRONIS – Specialty & Security Printing has made great progress in serialization, track & trace and improving the product packaging security, having multiple patent pending products in our portfolio.

We offer a wide array of tamper-evident box seals for product- and brand protection purposes, ranging from the simplest cost-effective construction and content to the more sophisticated seals, which can incorporate multiple security features, that even though come with a higher cost, they offer more protection, because some of the features are extremely hard to reproduce.

Transparent tamper-evident box seals (cost effective): extremely reliable, due to its simple construction, with a specially created ultra-strong adhesive for any cardboard surface, which ensures the appropriate tamper-evident feature in the form of cardboard/fiber tear. These are 100% clear labels which can be applied on any part of the product packaging without influencing the existing design of the product. There is a variant that has luminescent adhesive, ideal for missing label detection, the presence of which can reduce the risk of missing labels to zero. They are offered with or without perforations, which allow an easier opening.

Simple construction “VOID”-type labels (transparent or in a variety of colors): once applied on the product, these labels cannot be removed without leaving the wording “VOID” (or any other type of customized message) on the surface of the packaging and the seal itself. There are two types of “VOID” labels: (1) the ones that leave a residue – once utilized and detached, the VOID residue is extremely hard to remove from the applied surface. The message will also be visible on the surface of the detached seal; (2) the ones that leave no residue – the message will be visible only on the surface of the detached seal. The abovementioned features render these box seals impossible to reuse.

Tamper-evident box seals with incorporated RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag: RFID is an automated identification method which stores readable data that can be accessed from a distance through radio waves using an RFID reader or an NFC-enabled (Near-field communication) smartphone. This makes it easier to track an item on its way through the supply chain and, at the same time, verify authenticity, ensure quality and ultimately keep end customers safe. UHF (Ultra high frequency) RFID labels can provide a read distance of up to 15 feet (ca. 4.6 m), making this type of RFID tag ideal for many tracking applications.

Choosing the right RFID tag may depend on a variety of factors:

A. The type of inlay needed – HF (High frequency), UHF (Ultra-high frequency) or NFC (Near-field communication);

B. What are the circumstances of the application?

C. The required size of the antenna – This has bearing on the size of the label the RFID tag will be placed in/inserted;

D. How much information does the customer need stored? (chip memory size).

enseal™ – customizable tamper-evident box seal with controlled tearing: A user-friendly patent pending ergonomic tamper-evident seal for primary product packaging and shipping box protection. The enseal™’s non-adhesive tab for easy removal provides it with a revolutionary intuitive use, which enables the end-users to easily open the seal and gain access to the product the intended way. The detachable non-adhesive tab can only tear along the predefined line and does not damage the product packaging in any way, allowing the end-customer further use of the box. We have incorporated security cuts into the label structure, which prevent the seal being reused and make any sign of tampering easily noticeable.

enseal™ can be offered with engage™, our cloud-based security and brand engagement software solution. One of the many functions of engage™ is to check/authenticate the unique QR code and serial printed on the seal and the back of the non-adhesive tab. With this authentication solution, your end-customers can check the authenticity of your products in real time anywhere in the world.

For more information on engage™ please follow this link.

All the security seals can be customized, adapting their shape and size, while also adding multiple security features (e.g. personalized holograms, security print, etc.) to fit our customers’ requirements.

The Falsified Medicines Directive (2011/62/EU) has introduced mandatory safety features (serialization and tamper-evidence) for the protection of pharmaceutical product packaging. The mandatory security features must be placed on the packaging of medicinal products starting February 9, 2019.

ELTRONIS – Specialty & Security Printing presents the solution that will enable you to implement both mandatory security features with ONLY ONE seal.

We place great value on the safety of our customers’ products, while also ensuring user-friendly applications for their end-users.